A front-loading machine for treating laundry, having a loading opening that is located on the front wall and that can be closed by means of a hinged door, is described in German patent application DE 199 32 141 A1. With this machine for treating laundry, a door opening button is arranged in the front wall in the immediate vicinity of the hinged door in the area of the locking mechanism. In order to open the door, the user has to push the door opening button and almost simultaneously, can grip the edge of the door as it springs open, in order to subsequently open the door by means of a swiveling motion. This type of door opening appears to be quite convenient but it requires the user to execute two movements in different directions. In the first step, the button has to be pushed in towards the front wall, which corresponds to a movement that is counter to that required to open the door and then the door has to be pulled open by its edge so that the opening swiveling motion can be executed. This is a motion in a direction away from the front wall.
International patent application WO 02/14593 A2 describes a front-loading machine for treating laundry that has a large-surface door opening lever directly on the door. This door opening lever is fitted with numerous operating elements, for example, in order to set program parameters. For purposes of displaying status information, there are lighting elements on the circumferential edge of the door and on the door opening lever and these allow viewing and recognition of the status from a distance. The plurality of operating and display elements on the door opening lever entails the risk that an undesired setting is selected when the lever is actuated, for instance, if an operating element for selecting a program parameter is accidentally activated.